


Dean Eats Humble Pie

by jolene_rose



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M, Protective Dean Winchester
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:53:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25038046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jolene_rose/pseuds/jolene_rose
Summary: In the course of his unending mission to protect Sammy, Dean gravely offends Rowena and has to make amends.  Takes place some time around the end of season 14.  Rated Teen for some adult situations and foul language.
Relationships: Rowena MacLeod/Sam Winchester
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	Dean Eats Humble Pie

Dean had been stewing silently in his room ever since he had stumbled upon his brother and the witch entangled in the bunker's standard-issue white bedsheets. He had knocked on Sam's door that morning to ask if his brother would like any bacon with his avocado toast ( _What a goddamn hipster._ ). When Sam didn't answer, Dean opened the door, and what he saw made him wish he didn't have eyes. Rowena's small body was pressed against the side of his brother's much larger one, her head resting on his chest. The sheets were twisted around them, but not covering very much. He could now confirm that Rowena's freckles went _everywhere_ , and that was information he could have gone his whole life without. Dean had turned and shut the door and walked down to his own bedroom, breakfast forgotten, and that is where he'd stayed for the ensuing three hours. But there was only so much time Dean could spend grumbling to himself about Sam's poor taste in women or Rowena's history of using people for her own agenda and then discarding them. He decided it was time to confront the witch.

He found her exactly where he had anticipated she would be: in the library, her back turned to him, poring over a large, ancient-looking spellbook.

“So, Rowena,” he said, a bit too loudly for the quiet library. Rowena startled, then turned toward him coolly with a slightly perturbed expression. “Exactly how many of my friends and relatives are you planning on fucking under my roof?”

A sly grin spread across Rowena's face. “Oh, I think Samuel is _more_ than enough to keep me occupied,” she said, with meaningful emphasis.

Dean's eyes narrowed as he stalked up to her and pointed a stern finger in her face. “You'd better not be playing games here, Rowena. I don't know what your scheme is this time, but if you hurt Sam, I'm coming for you!”

“Yer not the only one,” she said under her breath, smiling down into her book.

“Hey, I mean it!” Dean said angrily, grabbing her shoulder and forcing it back rather roughly so that she turned to face him. Rowena gasped. Once he released her she rubbed her manhandled shoulder.

“I don't know where this is coming from!” she said, “Have I not proven myself an ally over these past two years? One would think you would trust me at least a wee bit by now, _not_ that it's any of your business what Samuel and I do in private!”

Dean realized in spite of himself that Rowena had a point, but then the image of her and Sam pressed against each other in Sam's bed entered his mind again. Flustered, Dean replied, “Well, make sure it stays private! And... and use protection!”

Rowena laughed. “Whatever for? I'm a witch, dear. I'm invulnerable to such insignificant things as disease.”

“I was more concerned about having a little red-headed accident running around,” Dean countered.

Rowena scoffed, rolling her eyes. “ _Please_ , I'm over three-hundred years old. I doubt I can even conceive a child anymore.”

“Well, better safe than sorry. After all, it wouldn't be the first _mistake_ you've made with a guy, now would it?”

As soon as the words left his mouth Dean knew he had gone too far. Rowena's face fell, her sassy, confident air dissipated. She looked genuinely hurt.

“I'm sorry, I didn't –”

“No,” she said, rising and slamming the large book shut, “You're right. I've been foolish before when it comes to men. Wouldn't want to make the same mistake twice.” She hoisted the book onto her hip and turned to leave.

“Ro – I – ,” Dean stammered, but she was already hurrying out of the library.

_Shit._ Dean had let his protective nature get the better of him, and now he'd really stepped in it. He had only meant to look after his brother – let the witch know that he was watching her, that if she wronged Sammy she would regret it. Despite her recent string of good deeds, Dean still didn't know if he could trust Rowena. She was a useful ally, but part of him feared that her devious, manipulative nature would resurface, and Sam would be a perfect pawn for her, given his apparent feelings towards her. Dean was just trying to do his duty and take care of Sammy. Instead it seemed he had wounded and degraded a woman who – based on what little Sam had divulged about waking her from nightmares and comforting her while she cried over Crowley – was already suffering. _Way to go, champ!_ He felt like an asshole.

“You are such an asshole!” Sam declared as he stormed into the kitchen. Dean was leaning against the counter sipping a beer, and he didn't so much as raise an eyebrow in response. He knew this was coming. He'd been waiting for it all afternoon. “Rowena said you ambushed her in the library – told her she better not hurt me or else?!” _Ambushed?_ Rowena certainly had a flair for dramatics.

“It wasn't as bad as she makes it sound. I was just laying down some ground rules.”

“She said you shoved her.”

“I – Rowena exaggerates, I barely touched her.”

Sam gave Dean his signature “bitch face.”

“Okay, I pushed her a little – but I was trying to talk to her and she wasn't taking me seriously!”

Another bitch face.

“...which is not an excuse and I should never have laid a hand on her," he recited, looking at his feet. "Look, I was just looking out for you, Sammy. You seem to think Rowena's been our friend ever since she quit boiling brains, and I feel like we need to be a little more cautious about her.”

“I can understand that,” Sam consented, “She's played us so many times before that, even though she seems to have changed, you're worried she might do it again. Granted, you don't know her like I do,–” Dean shuddered at the implications of _that_. “ – but I get it. But what about all of that justified bringing up Crowley's father? You must have realized by now that that is the _sorest_ of sore spots for her.”

“I know,” Dean replied, “it was a shitty thing to do. In my defense, though, I did apologize immediately.”

“Really? What did you say?”

“Uh... 'sorry'?”

Sam sighed. “I don't think that's gonna cut it, Dean. She's really upset. She knows you've never been thrilled to be working with her because she's a witch and now she's talking about leaving the bunker altogether. Even if you're not a fan of my personal relationship with her, the fact is, we need her help if we're going to keep Chuck from completely trashing our world. You'd better go smooth things out with her.”

Dean shuffled down the hall like a kid being sent to the principal's office. He'd always had a thing about witches – couldn't trust 'em, they were always getting their bodily fluids everywhere, always thought they were the smartest person in the room. If someone had told Dean five years ago that he would be apologizing to a witch for hurting her feelings – because she was one of his most powerful allies _and_ his brother's apparent girlfriend, no less – he would have punched them square in the jaw just for suggesting it.

Dean came to his brother's room and rapped on the closed door. He could hear fabric rustling, and then an irritated huff from inside, before the door finally opened. Rowena stood before him, glaring up at him with eyes that looked a bit red and puffy and definitely angry with him. Behind her on the bed was one of her antique-looking carpet bags with clothes gathered haphazardly in and around it. So Sam wasn't kidding; she was packing to leave. It suddenly occurred to Dean how many of Rowena's things were in Sam's room. How had he never noticed before this morning that they had been bunking together? Maybe he just hadn't wanted to notice.

“Rowena, I – I came to apologize,” Dean began. Rowena turned away from him and back to the task of packing her bag, but she didn't shut the door in his face, so he took that as permission to continue speaking. “What I said to you earlier was out of line, and I had no right to comment on your relationships, past or present.”

A quiet “humph” was all she offered him in response, but Dean pressed on anyway.

“I've been looking after Sam his whole life, y'know? Sometimes I forget that he's not a kid anymore. He can make his own decisions and deal with any consequences on his own. I'm not saying what I did was justified, I'm just hoping you'll understand why I did it.”

Rowena still had her back to him and hadn't said a word, which was beginning to frustrate Dean.

“Look,” he said, taking a couple steps into the room, “I'm trying to tell you I'm sorry. The least you could do is look at me!” He threw up his hands in exasperation. “Since when do you care what I think, anyway?”

“Since I've fallen in love with Sam!” she cried, whipping around to face him. She stared at his bewildered expression for a moment before lowering her eyes to the silk blouse she held in her hand. “The two of you are all about family, family, family. 'Family comes first,' 'Family don't end in blood.' It's not something I can particularly relate to,” she said with a shrug, “but it's important to Samuel. I don't want to have this strained relationship with you because it would hurt him to feel torn between me and his brother.”

“Oh,” Dean said dumbly.

“Aye.” Rowena sighed. “I know I don't have the best track record with men. And I know _you_ are well aware of that, thanks in no small part to my bonny, _bastard_ lad himself,” she spat venomously, “but it's different with Samuel. I'm not as naive as I was with Fergus's father, and I've no malicious or self-serving intent with Samuel as I have with the others. I truly... _love him_.” Rowena forced the words out almost as if they caused her physical pain, but Dean could tell from the agonized expression she wore that it was because she had been hurt by those words before, and not because they weren't the truth. In the past, uttering those words had opened her up for betrayal, and Dean recognized that it took a fair amount of courage for her to say them now, especially in front of someone who had never been her biggest supporter. Rowena sat on the edge of the bed and Dean calmly walked over and sat beside her. They were silent for several moments before Rowena spoke up.

“Why were you so convinced I'd hurt Samuel, anyway? I feel I've proven myself quite trustworthy of late.”

Dean was surprised to hear her voice again after the prolonged silence, but quickly collected himself. “Well, you have tried to kill us both,” he said.

“Aye, but who among us on Team Apocalypse _hasn't_ tried to kill another member under particular circumstances?”

Dean frowned. She was right, of course, but he wasn't ready to admit that.

“We call ourselves 'Team Free Will,'” he replied petulantly.

She waved a dismissive hand at him. “But you see my point, right? People change. Relationships evolve. I love Samuel and I intend to remain with him for a long time. I would like to have your blessing, but you know I'll proceed without it,” she said firmly, looking him right in the eyes. Ah, yes, there was the Rowena Dean knew. He had been taken aback by a rare glimpse at her soft, vulnerable side. Somehow, he felt more at ease with her when she was challenging him.

“Oh, I know,” he replied, “you don't require anyone's permission for anything. But, whether you need it or want it, you and Sammy have my blessing.” The witch smiled at that. Dean cleared his throat and stood, adjusting his flannel shirt as if to shake off the sentimentality of the moment. “Just, don't do any kinky witch stuff when I'm around, okay?” He strode to the door so Rowena wouldn't see his face turning red. Once out in the hallway he froze as a thought struck him. “And I did mean what I said about using protection!” he called back over his shoulder. He didn't turn back to look at her, but he could hear Rowena chuckling. Dean shook his head. He supposed that if by some bizarre misfortune Sam's relationship with Rowena managed to make him an uncle, he would just have to learn to love the little son-of-a-witch.


End file.
